(LEAD) N. Korea warns Japan over de facto embassy in Tokyo

BEIJING, April 1 (Yonhap) -- North Korea warned Japan against selling a property in Tokyo that serves as the North's de facto embassy during their first high-level talks in more than a year, the chief Pyongyang delegate said Tuesday, adding that there would be "no need" for progress in bilateral talks unless Japan addresses the issue.

The strongly worded remarks by Song Il-ho, North Korea's ambassador in charge of talks to normalize relations with Japan who led the two-day talks that ended on Monday in Beijing, suggested that the two sides ended the Beijing talks apparently without even starting serious discussions on key pending issues, including the North's admitted abduction of more than a dozen Japanese citizens decades ago.